Blog Directories

3 Teams, 20 Boozer Trade IdeasJuly 28, 2009 - I've been playing around on ESPN Trade Machine to see how many plausable trade scenarios I could come up with for the teams rumored to want Boozer. I intentionally did not include NY because I just can't imagine the Jazz will do a deal with them, and they really don't have any players I want.

While some of these trades would obviously make me happier than others, I only listed deals that I would actually do (assuming no better offers were on the table). Seems like KOC should be able to make at least one of these happen:

MiamiBoozer for Beasley and HaslemBoozer for Chalmers, Cook, Blount, and 2010 1st-round pickBoozer and Kirilenko for Beasley and O’NealBoozer and CJ for Beasley, Blount, and CookBoozer and CJ for Beasley, Haslem, and CookBoozer for Haslem, Wright, and Cook + CJ for Chalmers (separate transaction to take advantage of trade exception)Boozer, CJ, and Harpring for Beasley, Haslem, and Blount

Summary: Any Miami trade must include either Beasley or both Chalmers and Cook.

New JerseyBoozer for Lee and SimmonsBoozer for Lee, Battie, and DoolingBoozer for Lee, Battie, and YiBoozer and CJ for Lee, Simmons, and BooneBoozer and Harpring for Lee, Simmons, and DoolingBoozer, CJ, and Harpring for Lee, Simmons, and Battie

Summary: Any NJ trade must include Courtney Lee (unless of course Brook Lopez is available...)

ChicagoBoozer for Thomas and JamesBoozer for Hinrich and NoahBoozer and Fess for Salmons and JamesBoozer and CJ for Hinrich and ThomasBoozer and CJ for Hinrich, James, and 2010 1st-round pickBoozer and Harpring for Thomas and MillerBoozer, Kirilenko, and CJ for Hinrich, Thomas, Deng, and James

Summary: There are a bunch of Chicago players I would happily take back for Boozer

Millsap MatchedJuly 17, 2009 – If I had any doubt about Jazz ownership’s commitment to building a title contender rather than saving a buck, those fears have been put to rest. By matching Portland’s “toxic” offer sheet to Paul Millsap, Greg Miller convinced me that he wants to win.

I’m thrilled that Millsap will remain a Jazzman. While I always believed the Jazz would be true to their word and match any reasonable offer he received, there was enough subjectivity in the term “reasonable” to leave them an out had they chosen to go the financially conservative route. Instead, they will pay Paul a boatload of money upfront and then have him locked to an extremely reasonable contract for the next four years.

(I promise not to use the word “reasonable” for the remainder of this post.)

Now things get interesting. This move obviously makes Boozer’s imminent departure appear to be more of a foregone conclusion than it already was. The question is does it hurt Utah’s leverage now that other teams know the Jazz are deep in luxury tax territory and may therefore be much more motivated to trade Boozer for some salary relief?

I don’t believe the Jazz will deal Boozer for nothing more than cap relief, and I sincerely hope I’m not proven wrong. It just wouldn’t be reason… uh… I mean, "sensible" to do so.

Top Five Wishes for the Rest of the OffseasonJuly 13, 2009 - 1. Jazz match Millsap -- He needs to be a Jazzman. We don't have enough tough, hustle players, and Sap actually has skill and upside to go along with it. It will be a sad day if he becomes a Blazer.

2. Jazz trade Boozer without involving Portland -- I don't want to see them benefit in any way from signing Millsap to a "toxic" offer sheet, even if it does allow the Jazz to shed more salary. I just want the Jazz to get something of value back for Booz, not just expiring contracts.

3. Jazz trade small and/or expiring contracts for a single wing upgrade -- I would like to see any combination of Harp, CJ, Korver, Fess, and Brewer traded for someone like Caron Butler, Gerald Wallace, Rip Hamilton, Kevin Martin, Eric Gordon, OJ Mayo, John Salmons, Tayshaun Prince, etc. (Probably dreaming here, but if San Antonio can get Richard Jefferson for their leftovers, there's always a chance...)

4. Andre Miller re-signs with Philly (and therefore not Portland or NY) -- Miller makes the players around him better, and for obvious reasons I don't want to see either of those two teams improve.

5. Lamar Odom signs with anyone but Portland -- Again, no interest in seeing Portland add a player who could make them better. I can't figure out why they haven't pursued Odom aggressively, as he seems like a great fit for them at both forward spots.

So how many of the five will actually happen? Guess we'll find out soon enough.

Boozer Trade Ideas RevisitedJuly 2, 2009 - Now that the free-agent opt-out decisions have been made and the landscape is a little clearer, it’s a great time to revisit possible trade destinations for Boozer. Let’s face it; the majority of Jazz fans will be sorely disappointed if he’s a member of the team when training camp begins. While there are numerous potential trade scenarios involving Boozer, I’ll focus on what I believe are the top-5 most likely:

(Note: I had to change this article at the last minute to remove Detroit, as their recent signing of Villenueva makes it highly unlikely they would trade for Boozer)

I love the idea of Hinrich on the Jazz as a quality backup for Deron and solid option at the two. But can the Jazz really afford $9M a year for a backcourt role player? He still has three years left on his contract, so it’s a bit risky. If he can provide some consistent shooting and defense from the SG position, it might be worth it.

Salmons would be perfect for the Jazz, giving them a solid defender and true scoring option capable of playing either wing position. He also has a cheap contract ($6M for the next two years). I believe this is a trade that would make both teams better.

The alternate deal with Tyrus Thomas is not quite as attractive, but still a decent option.

Here's how the new Jazz would look under the better scenario, with my best guess at minutes distribution:

Nellie has already made it known that he will not trade Anthony Randolph or Steph Curry. Otherwise those two would headline the list. The Jazz don’t get equal value in this trade, but they do acquire a bunch of young talent and would still be able to put a competitive team on the floor in 2009. If nothing else, they improve their shot blocking and 3-pt shooting. They also get an additional pick in the deep 2010 draft.

This trade is similar to the rumored deal with Phoenix for Amare Stoudemire that has apparently fallen apart. Boozer should fit in well in GS since they don’t play defense.

Houston desperately needs scoring with Yao out and McGrady likely missing much of the season. Boozer would give them that. Battier and Scola would both be great additions to the Jazz, although they are clearly role players. This team would be competitive (and much improved defensively) but would still lack a go-to scorer outside of Deron.

The alternate deal involving Artest would be intriguing, but would he come to Utah, and would the Jazz really want him to?

The Bobcats are losing money and desperate to dump salary. Boozer is an expiring contract but could also be a local draw since he played at Duke. Wallace is reportedly available and would be a nice addition to the Jazz, bringing athleticism, defense and the ability to get to the line. Bell would add outside shooting and defensive toughness. This move would give the Jazz a serious logjam at the wing, so they would likely need to make a subsequent trade.

The Bobcats would really have to be desperate to unload Okafor after consecutive seasons in which he played all 82 games, but who knows?

This is another deal in which the Jazz clearly don’t get equal value immediately, but they do get some young talent and fill some needs. Courtney Lee had a strong rookie season and could make it much easier to let Korver go next year. Dooling is a combo guard who plays tough D and can hit the three. Simmons makes the deal work with his large expiring contract ($10M), but he's also a good defender and great 3-pt shooter from the corner. As with the Charlotte trade, this would leave the Jazz with a glut of wing players, so an additional trade would make sense.

Of the deals above, I like the Chicago trade the best. As you can see, all of these place the Jazz well into luxury tax territory for the 2009-10 season, but that seems a foregone conclusion at this point. These scenarios all assume that Millsap returns to Utah (I used a starting salary of $8M for my assumptions). If he gets an offer sheet that the Jazz feel they can’t match, that could change the landscape considerably. Should that happen, I’ll update the trade scenarios